SANTA CATARINA PINULA, Guatemala—Rescue workers using shovels and pickaxes recovered more bodies from the rubble of a collapsed hillside on the outskirts of Guatemala City on Saturday, as an official said the death toll had risen to 69 with another 350 people believed missing.
Julio Sanchez, spokesman for Guatemala’s volunteer firefighters, said the death toll will likely continue to rise as emergency crews dig through tons of earth that buried some 125 homes on Thursday night in Cambray, a neighborhood in the suburb of Santa Catarina Pinula. Earlier estimates had said that 600 people could be missing.
Despite the passing time, emergency services coordinator Sergio Cabanas said rescuers “still have hope of finding people alive if we just keep searching.”
At the site, workers with dogs labored without rest, halting only when a long whistle sounded, testing if anyone was still alive under the mud and debris. “We’re from the rescue unit,” one worker announced. “If there is someone there, please make some noise or yell.”
When no response was heard, two more long whistles sounded, a sign that the workers should continue digging. Cabanas said he had been contacted by several people who reported receiving messages on their cellphones from family members trapped under the rubble. He said authorities had not seen the reported text messages, but had asked local telephone companies to try to map out the places where the messages were sent from.
Highlighting the horror faced by rescuers, Sanchez said that officials had arrived at the death toll of 69 by counting body parts, such as heads and torsos. Late Saturday, hopes began to fade among rescue workers and authorities announced that the search would be suspended until Sunday morning to guarantee the safety of the workers.
“Given the time that has passed, the truth is there is little hope” of finding survivors, said Ines de Leon of the Volunteer Firefighters Rescue Brigade of Retalhuleu province. “Only a miracle can save them.” While emergency team leaders estimated that about 350 people remained missing, municipal authorities said late Saturday that they thought about 300 were missing because some people were not in the area at the time.
Among those mourning the loss of their relatives on Saturday was Nehemias Gonzalez, who seemed to have run out of tears. He lost his 21-year-old wife, Masiel Alexandra, and their 2-year-old child, Angel Efrain. Gonzalez said he was working at his job at a McDonald’s restaurant when the landslide occurred. He said he usually left work at 11 p.m., but that day he was given extra chores and didn’t leave until 4 a.m. Friday. It wasn’t until then that he learned about the disaster.
“The last thing she said when I called her on the telephone in the afternoon was that she loved me,” Gonzalez said, looking down at the ground. “I love her, too.”
Image credits: AP/Moises Castillo